A serviceman wearing a Russian flag on his uniform stands guard near the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant outside the Russian-controlled city of Enerhodar, Ukraine, on August 4. (Alexander Ermochenko/Reuters)
The head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog will arrive in Kyiv on Thursday to discuss the creation of a buffer zone around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, after Russian President Vladimir Putin declared the facility as a federal asset.
Rafael Mariano Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), will hold “talks aimed at agreeing and implementing a nuclear safety and security protection zone around the ZNPP (Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant) as soon as is possible”, as reported. an IAEA press release. Grossi will also visit Russia, he added.
“The need for a nuclear safety and security protection zone (NSSPZ) around the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant is now more urgent than ever,” he tweeted on Wednesday alongside photos from his trip to the Ukrainian capital.
Separately, there are plans to restart one of the six reactors at the Zaporizhzhia plant, which are “currently in cold shutdown,” according to the IAEA press release.
Ukrainian operational staff told IAEA experts at the complex that arrangements are being made to run the reactor at a lower power level to create the steam and heat needed for the plant.
“It will take time to complete all preparations, including those related to the necessary systems and equipment, before reactor operations can resume,” the press release said.
Some background: Grossi’s trip to Kyiv comes amid a heated standoff over the status of the plant, after Putin signed a decree on Wednesday placing Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power under Russian state control.
Just as Putin was signing the decree, Ukraine’s state nuclear operator Energoatom said its president would take over the duties of the plant’s general manager, prompting the International Atomic Energy Agency to intervene ( IAEA).
The plant in Ukraine’s southeastern region is the largest in Europe and has been controlled by Russian forces for more than seven months, but is operated by its Ukrainian staff.
The Kremlin’s annexation of Zaporizhzhia and three other Ukrainian regions has been widely condemned by the international community as “a sham” and illegal under international law.
Moscow does not have full control of the land it claims to have annexed, with just under three-quarters of Zaporizhzhia.